tarot cards

I never quite know what to make of horoscopes and tarot cards and the like. I’ve never believed in astrology or its meanings, but i had a little realization today. What i like about them is that they provide feedback, stuff that i already know (partially because i read the horoscope/tarot cards in the light that i want to read it), but they provide the feedback in a way that i’m willing to digest it. I can see a reading and it’s like looking in the mirror, only because of the mysticism and the idea that someone else wrote it, i end up better able to hear what i am actually personally constructing. I never thought about putting astrology into the same vein as self-help, which is silly because it’s all new age, but alas, there are certain things that take a smack upside the head before you’re willing to see them.

I’m still not willing to pay for a tarot reading, as it seems utterly foolish to pay someone to be a mirror. Although that’s quite hypocritical since i think of psychologists in the same light. Only difference is that they are a human presence that lets me work out my shit without causing harm to my friends. Hmm.. and i support shrinks but i don’t support cults. I guess my problem there is that you spend a lot of money under the guise of getting help, but without realizing that their main objective is to make money. Of course, i get weary whenever money is involved..

I need to think about this some more, cause my opinions seem awefully arbitrary on the matter. When can external opinions be valuable or harmful?

ecstasy versus ecstasy

I cannot remember the last time that i read an article on a drug that i didn’t think was dreadfully biased. Usually, they’re either proselytizing the drug or condemning it for all it’s worth. This article about ecstasy has a very level-headed approach: there are pros, there are cons, some information is misinformation, a lot is unknown, safety is being ignored out of fear, fear tactics are not persuasive, the gov’t has lost its credibility in the war on drugs, etc. The arguments are laid out nicely and expressing who does ecstasy and why, while also conveying why the war on ecstasy is failing miserably and resulting in increased usage and deaths. And ultimately, it suggests that no matter what the authorities say, people will make their own decisions and that it is better to inform them and the public at large. I couldn’t agree more.

Plus, the article is clearly written with my favorite quote being: “And while Ecstasy is typically portrayed as the drug of choice among a fringe of bedeviled youngsters with a fondness for glow sticks and all-night dancing, in reality the drug cuts a wide swath across society.” I was quite psyched that the author noted why people did drugs at parties, but also noted that parties were not an excuse for drugs to be sold.

And, in response to an individual’s remarks, the author quoted one of the best quotes about why the gov’t is losing the war on drugs: “I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me” – Winson Churchill.

lack of advisorhood

One of the worst things about my current situation is that i don’t feel as though i have a way to get good advice regarding my thoughts and ideas. I’m not your typical grad student: i don’t operate well in isolation. I need social interaction; i need people to challeng me and make me think. I need people to learn from. And it’s been damn challenging to get that in this environment, which makes it hard to motivate. The school that i’m in, my advisor, the people around me. I want to be pushed and strained; i want to think outside of my box and have those inspirations that only occur when engaging with people.

On the other hand, i know that i’m not alone in being tired of getting no advice. I thought things had improved, but in fact they were just bandaided in a way that made it seem like they were solved, and thus no progress is going to happen. ::sigh:: Must get out of here.

Google & collapsed contexts

Oh! Oh! So, i’ve been bitching about the problems with Google for quite some time, the concerns about privacy, how it collapses contexts, what that means, etc. And every time i say something about that, people remind me that Google is a fabulous company (which i’m actually certain it is) and that everyone is speaking to the public so get over it. But, it’s not that simple. People aren’t speaking to the public like they do in the physical world. The ability to archive, search, etc. collapses contexts and leaves people fundamentally vulnerable.

It made me realize that people aren’t aware of the underlying differences between the physical and the digital. And while my initial flip-out was quite incoherent, i’m starting to have a better grasp of how to address this, how to break it down and discuss the issues in terms of context, faceting of identity and presentation.

And i’m glad to hear that i’m not the only one who thinks that this is a problem that must be addressed! And there’s even a metafilter discussion going on!

[And of course, more on /., which is a quick reminder that /. geeks don’t get social issues or context… too much libertarianism, not enough reality and way too little self-monitoring]

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Gujarat

More details on the massive human rights violations in Gujarat, including the systematic raping of women and burning them alive.

Other info:
pucl report

smoke pot? stay out of jail

Here’s a great little comic to address your legal rights. It’s becoming a police state and most arrests are over drugs. Yet, as we all know, smoking pot is NORML.

I do wonder how long it will be until our society just accepts that pot smoking is not at all different than alcohol. I mean, it’s frustrating to listen to people differentiate the two, when the only similarity is that their legal status is based on politics. Alcohol and tobacco/cotton won. That means that alcohol is legal and marijuana/hemp is not. I still prefer a pothead to an alcoholic any day. At least the former isn’t going to kick my ass and be really noisy.

i love the onion

CAMBRIDGE, MA-Jon Rosenblatt, 27, a Harvard University English graduate student specializing in modern and postmodern critical theory, deconstructed the take-out menu of a local Mexican restaurant “out of sheer force of habit” Monday.

cracking, ani style

…

you were always half crazy, now look at you baby
make about as much sense as a nursery rhyme
love is a piano dropped out a four story window
and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time

i don’t like your girlfriend, i blame her
never seen one of your lovers do you so much harm
i loved you first and you know i would prefer
if she didn’t empty her syringes into your arm

here comes little naked me padding up to the bathroom door
to find little naked you slumped on the bathroom floor
so i guess i’ll just stand here with my back against the wall
while you distill your whole life down to a 911 call

so now you bring me your bruises
so i can oh and ah at the display
maybe i’m supposed to make one of my famous jokes that makes everything ok
maybe i’m supposed to be the handsome prince who rides up and unties your hands
or maybe i’m supposed to be the furrow-browed friend who thinks she understands

…

promoting adventure

We’re going cross country in style! Think Thelma & Louise!

I adore that so many of my friends promote adventure whenever possible. One of my closest friends (and ex) is kindly lending his fantabulous convertible to me and three of my friends in order to promote our cross country driving and festival seeking and my old advisor is lending us his specialized bike rack in order to help the process. ::bounce::bounce:: I cannot wait!!

moving

Wow. It’s been a long time since i’ve moved in an unbelievable rush. Actually, i remember the biggest rush. It was 1997 and i was trying to move into the coops. And Dean Desrochers was being Dean Desrochers and refusing to let me move, because i was only a second semester first year and i needed the proper environment for my education (as though the drunken puking frat boys were the proper environment). So, i begged and pleaded and then did my research, only to find out that they had overbooked midyears by a hundred so i convinced him based on logic. Only problem is that i convinced him at 3:30PM and he told me that if i had returned my keys by 5PM, i was allowed off campus. Like the angel that he is, my dear friend Glenn picked up garbage bags and his car and came a runnin’ and we booked through my room in 1.5 hours.

This time, it took more like 12. But i have a lot more stuff. And now, i’m in PA with a large Ryder truck full of stuff, cause i have a lot of stuff. Of course, home is the only place that you can always take your stuff, even if you intend to be homeless for months on end. Ah yes, the power of a digitla life.

Now, i am just longing to finish the thesis and start booking through this intriguing country – off to Fusion and Burning Man in less than a month!!

danah boyd | apophenia

making connections where none previously existed